April 9, 2020
The Honorable Chad Wolf
Acting Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
The Honorable Pete Gaynor
Administrator
Federal Emergency Management Agency
500 C Street S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20472
Dear Acting Secretary Wolf and Administrator Gaynor:
As a follow-up to our letter of April 3 regarding the fiscal year 2020 preparedness grants, we recently learned of the revised Notice of Funding Allocations you provided to Congress on March 26 and wish to applaud your foresight in already rectifying this issue.
In this revised notice, you note the elimination of “ranges” and “target allocations” and how “each state, territory, and designated UASI site will receive the higher dollar amount” outlined in the original notice of February 14. This is a clear recognition of the overwhelming responsibilities of the ongoing COVID-19 response, and we appreciate your understanding in this matter. As stated in our previous letter, we agree with the focus on the core priorities defined by the Department, but a delay in the 20 percent requirement will help address the need for long-range planning to ensure these grants are spent responsibly, efficiently, and in line with state and regional priorities.
Your notice of March 26 also included an intended public announcement date of March 31. While this announcement did not come to fruition, we trust this was an administrative oversight due to the department’s own responsibilities with the COVID-19 pandemic, we look forward to receiving the appropriate information swiftly so applications may be completed in a timely manner. Again, thank you for the foresight and consideration in this matter and we look forward to working with you toward addressing your vision for national priorities in the fiscal year 2021 grant cycle.
Sincerely,
National Governors Association
Government Finance Officers Association
Governors Homeland Security Advisors Council
International City/County Management Association
International Association of Emergency Managers
National Association of Counties
National Conference of State Legislatures
National Emergency Management Association
National League of Cities
The Council of State Governments
United States Conference of Mayors
